Dear Parents and caregivers,

During this week as I’ve been in class, I've found myself telling one of my favorite stories! It's a unique twist on the commonly known story about the frog and the scorpion.

If you don't know, one day there lived a frog, and he was so happy, kind and cheerful. He would always greet everyone within his little town with the biggest smile. One day a stranger strolled into town. A stranger he had never seen before and a stranger who looked scary. The stranger introduced himself to Mr Frog and asked for his help crossing the river to return to his desert home. Mr Frog initially declined seeing as the scorpion was a very scary looking fellow. But Mr Frog felt so guilty for turning down his offer that he returned to Mr Scorpion and shared that he would be delighted to help him across the river.

But Mr Frog asked for some assurance that he would not be harmed in the process, given all the scary stories he had heard about scorpions before. Mr Scorpion chuckled and shared that if he were to sting Mr Frog whilst he was swimming Mr Scorpion across the river, then they would both die, and thus he was not interested in stinging Mr Frog at all.

Well the moment came when Mr Frog was helping Mr Scorpion across the river, and as he was swimming he felt a sharp pain in his back. Mr Frog felt the poison fill his legs and arms as he became paralyzed. Unable to swim, he let out one final cry before drowning and asked “Why, why did you sting me Mr Scorpion, now we’re both going to die!” Mr Scorpion replied, “Because i’m a scorpion, it’s in my nature.” And they both drowned and died.

Now this is not a very happy story. The kids pause, confusion written all over their faces for a moment before blurting out “What?!” in total disbelief that the chaplain, the one who comes in and always shares uplifting stories about Jesus, just shared such a horrific story.

Eagerly I let them know, that was only story number one! Who wants to hear a second story with a much happier ending? The weight of relief lifts from the students, with some calling out with cheer, eager to hear the next story.

Mr Flower was just a tiny seed. And after it rained, my flower finally started to grow. First his roots and then he sprouted upward before finally bursting past the soil and into the sunlight.

Mr Flower grew up big and tall. But when he looked around, he was the only flower in his field. Occasionally other animals would pass by and Mr flower would strike up conversation with them. He was a very social flower and loved the company of others. However every now and then he’d get sad because he’d have no one to talk to if no other animals passed by, sometimes this could be days at a time. But one day a stranger came buzzing by. Mr Flower froze at the sight of this stranger, stiff as a rock. He had heard such nasty stories about what he saw flying towards him, until eventually the buzzing critter buzzed right up to Mr flower and said, “Hello Mr flower, I am Mr Bee, and I was wondering if I could have a break, and have a rest upon one of your big beautiful petals?"

Mr Flower blurted out “NO!” He had heard the stories about nasty bees and their stinger before and he wasn't going to let mr bee anywhere near him with his big stinger! So he told Mr Bee to buzz off somewhere else. With a dejected look on his face, Mr Bee buzzed on by.

Mr Flower thought about what he had said and about the look in Mr Bee's eyes. And he felt bad. He felt like he had said and done the wrong thing. Determined to make it up to Mr Bee he promised himself that next time he sees him, he would offer him a spot to rest. Sure enough, Mr Bee was buzzing by the next day. Mr Flower called out to him, “Hey Mr Bee, I'm sorry for yesterday, please feel free to come by and take a rest. Mr Bee was so glad and happy, he came and sat with Mr Flower and they talked for hours.

Mr Flower didn't understand at first, but all of the pollen seemed to be collecting on Mr Bee’s legs. And then Mr Bee flew off, and visited the other flowers out of sight and returned to buzz around Mr Flower. A few days later, Mr Flower noticed some sprouts appearing all around him. He finally had some friends growing near him that he could talk to and keep company!

Mr Flower was so excited that he called out to Mr Bee the next time he saw him and said “Look! Mr Bee! I have friends growing all around me!” Mr Bee responded “because you let me rest with you, I was able to take some of your pollen and pollinate a lot of the surrounding plants and flowers and they were able to seed in this very area, creating a field full of friends for you!”

Mr Flower was shocked, “Even after i was so mean to you, you still chose to help pollinate this area, just so that I could have friends. Why did you choose to be kind to me even though I was so mean?” Mr Bee responded, “Because I'm a Bee, it’s in my nature.”

All of us, just like Mr Bee and Mr Scorpion, have stingers and ways in which we could potentially hurt people. I’m pleased to report that when asked if they'd rather be like Mr Bee or Mr Scorpion, all of the students chose to be like Mr Bee, and choose to have a kind nature, instead of a harmful one.

God Bless.